Nokia has announced a fourth Android smartphone to its 2017 portfolio. The company, which is now under the brand HMD Global, announced the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 in March but the true flagship contender comes in the form of the Nokia 8.

How does the Nokia 8 compare to its tough competition though? We have put the company’s flagship device up against the Android smartphone king – the Samsung Galaxy S8 – to see how the two devices stack up against each other.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Design

Nokia 8 is all metal, Samsung S8 glass and metal

IP68 water and dust resistance on S8

S8 is smaller and has slimmer bezels

The Nokia 8 comes complete with rounded corners, a softly-curved back and a premium metal design that oozes quality. It will be available in polished copper, polished blue, a matt temperate blue and a steel finish.

It measures 151.5 x 73.7 x 7.9mm and it features minimal branding, a rectangular button on the front below the screen that doubles up as fingerprint sensor, and a slim vertical dual-camera and flash array on the rear. The Nokia 8’s display has very slim bezels on the sides, but quite large bezels at the top and bottom.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 features a metal and glass design with exceptionally slim bezels surrounding the dual-edged display. It’s almost all-screen on the front, with no physical buttons in sight, while the rear has a single-lens camera with a flash module to the left and a rectangular fingerprint sensor to the right.

Samsung’s smaller flagship measures 148.9 x 68.1 x 8.0mm and it hits the scales at 155g, making it smaller than the Nokia 8. The Galaxy S8 has IP68 water and dust resistance, something not specified for the Nokia 8, and it delivers an overall fabulous design that is available in six colour options.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Display

S8 has bigger display by 0.5-inches

S8 has sharper and more vibrant display

Mobile HDR on S8

There was talk of the Nokia 8 appearing in two sizes, like the S8 does, but instead it arrives in just one 5.3-inch screen size featuring a standard 16:9 aspect ratio, which is why it sits within a larger footprint than the S8 despite a smaller screen.

Nokia opts for an LCD display, coupled with a Quad HD resolution at 2560 x 1440, which puts the new flagship’s pixel density at 554ppi. Nothing has been mentioned Mobile HDR compliancy so we assume it isn’t on the new device but there is Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection is on board.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 features a 5.8-inch display within its relatively small footprint, thanks to its 18.5:9 aspect ratio. As we briefly mentioned previously, the S8 has a dual-edge display, making it more exciting than some flat-display devices, while it also offers Mobile HDR Premium technology.

In terms of resolution, the Galaxy S8 opts for Quad HD+, which translates to 2960 x 1440 for a pixel density of 570ppi, making it slightly sharper than the Nokia 8. Samsung also uses Super AMOLED panels in its flagship devices, meaning punchy, vibrant colours, even if not as realistic as LCD.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Camera

Nokia 8 offers dual-rear Zeiss lens cameras

Both devices have autofocus on their front cameras

Nokia 8 has a Dual-Sight camera mode for simultaneous image and video from front and rear snappers

The Nokia 8 comes complete with dual 13-megapixel rear cameras, along with a 13-megapixel front camera, all of which feature Zeiss lenses. The rear cameras are made up of one RGB sensor and one monochrome sensor, like the Huawei P10, and they offer an aperture of f/2.0 and phase detection autofocus, as does the front camera.

Nokia has also launched a Dual-Sight camera mode on the Nokia 8, which allows users to use both the front and rear cameras simultaneously in order to capture a photo or video of both yourself and the subject to then upload to a social media platform like Facebook or YouTube.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S8 doesn’t opt for a dual-rear camera setup. Instead, there is a 12-megapixel single lens rear camera with a f/1.7 aperture lens, optical image stabilisation and 8x digital zoom.

The front camera has an 8-megapixel sensor, also with an aperture of f/1.7 and it comes with autofocus. Both the front and rear cameras of the S8 produce excellent results so even if it wins the megapixel battle, the Nokia 8 has a big task ahead in terms of camera capability.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Hardware

Both similar powered processors

Same RAM and storage capacities

Both have microSD, 3.5mm headphone jack and USB Type-C

The Nokia 8 comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 platform under its hood, coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Like the existing Nokia Android phones, the Nokia 8 also comes with a microSD slot for storage expansion.

Battery capacity sits at 3090mAh, is non-removable and charged via USB Type-C with Quick Charge 3.0 supported. There is also a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the Nokia 8 and the device features Ozo audio that binaurally encodes the surround sound it captures so it will be available to everyone.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 runs on either the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, or the Exynos 8895, depending on the region. Both devices come with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and they both have microSD support for storage expansion up to 256GB.

The S8 has a battery capacity of 3000mAh, a little smaller than the Nokia 8 and Galaxy S8+ that has 3500mAh, and it too is charged via USB Type-C. The S8 also has a 3.5mm headphone jack and it supports 32-bit audio playback.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Software

Pure Android on Nokia 8 so fast updates

Samsung S8 runs on Android with TouchWiz

The current Nokia Android phones all run on pure Android Nougat with Google Assistant and the Nokia 8 does the same.

Aside from a tweaked camera, there is no bloatware or pre-installed apps, aside from a support app, and Nokia has said it is aiming for the Nokia 8 to be one of the first devices to offer Android O.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 on the other hand, runs on Android Nougat with Samsung’s TouchWiz user interface over the top. That means you’ll get more bloatware on the Samsung than the Nokia and therefore a different experience, but the S8 interface is great.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Price

S8 costs more

The Nokia 8 will go on sale globally in early September for €599, which is around £550/$825.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is available now and costs £689/$1033.5, making it quite a bit more expensive than Nokia’s new flagship.

Nokia 8 vs Samsung Galaxy S8: Conclusion

The Nokia 8 and the Samsung Galaxy S8 both offer premium designs and flagship specs.

The Nokia 8 doesn’t have as large a display as the S8, nor does it offer the latest technology like Mobile HDR, but it is a slimmer device overall, it offers a pure Android software experience with quick updates likely and it has a dual-camera setup on the rear.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 on the other hand has a larger, sharper display, a design that could be considered more exciting and although a single rear camera lens, it’s an excellent one.

The decision between these two handsets will likely come down to budget, as well as which design tickles your fancy more, as well as which features matter to you most. we will update this feature when we have reviewed the Nokia 8.